Whenever I tell anyone I went to Myanmar, they always
respond, ‘Myanmar? Where’s that?’.
Myanmar was formerly known as Burma – a name that given to them by the
British. Since Burma only represents the
Burman/Bamar majority, the name Myanmar was brought in. Or at least that’s what I understand.
*My history might not be correct! I’m going off of what I have read or heard
from speaking with people.
While Myanmar has technically always been open to tourism,
it is just recently, with a change in attitude from the government, that many sanctions
have been lifted and mass tourism has started.
We actually met a French man who had visited Myanmar in the 70s, but
back then you could only stay 1 week and were limited to Yangon only.
We chose to go to Myanmar due to its relative unspoilt
nature. From what we read, the main theme
was go now, before things change. Before
temples are surrounded by ropes and before you lose the solace of
surroundings. I was sorting through my
hundreds of photos last night, and I realized that even at the main temple
sites, there were no other people in most of my photos. I think this is representative of why to go
now.
We flew China Airlines to Yangon, via Taipei. It was 13 hours to Taipei, then another 4
hours to Yangon. Flight was good. I’ve never actually experienced a bad
trans-Pacific flight. (Domestic
airlines, you could improve so
much!!!) Arrived in Yangon midday. Next time I travel, I am definitely going to
try to arrive during daylight hours. It
just makes moving around that much easier.
When we went to India, our flight arrived in the middle of the night,
and it was so stressful and scary taking a taxi to our accommodation.
While this trip took months of planning (mostly due to my
need to be prepared and informed), we did not pre-book any transportation or accommodations,
besides our first night in Yangon. We
travelled this way so we could have flexibility in our schedule.
From what we had read, we knew that Myanmar valued only
post-2006 US dollar bills, in pristine condition. We knew that there were ATMs available, but
had read that there was a $300 limit on withdrawals. My bank charges $2 per overseas withdrawal,
so this, with the ATM fees, would be rather hefty over time. For that reason we brought US bills as our
primary and credit cards as our backup. What
we didn’t plan on was just how many kyat bills we would be getting when we
exchanged money. It was definitely a
shock, being handed 3 bricks of cash!
$1500 USD = 1486500 kyats. Can't fit this into a money belt!
Yangon is an oddly multicultural city. We saw churches, mosques, Hindu temples,
Buddhist temples, and even a Sikh temple.
According to the Lonely Planet, there is even a synagogue in the city,
although we didn’t venture far enough to see it. I think this reflects on the variety of
people who migrated to Yangon during the British colonial rule.
Typical street in downtown Yangon
Like any former colonial city, there are many old colonial
style buildings. Some have been nicely
restored, while others are in disrepair.
There’s a non-profit group in Myanmar that is trying to restore the old
architecture.
I kind of like the juxtaposition between colonial grandness and decay.
A restored colonial building (the court I think), and Mahabandoola Park
People in Myanmar dress quite conservatively and
traditionally. Most women do not show
their shoulders or their knees. However,
in the big city, dress is less conservative, and people do show more skin. Men don’t seem to have dress restrictions
like women. Both sexes wear the longyi,
which is like a wrap skirt. It’s not
surprising to see men and women readjusting their longyis in public. K and I bought longyis, but had difficulties
wearing them in the heat. We found that
our legs would sweat so much that the fabric would stick and it would get really
awkward to walk. I don’t think the
locals sweat as much as us, being acclimatized to the heat and humidity!
Locals shopping for goods. Most Myanmar people wear longyis.
Sidewalk fruit/veggie vendors
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